Reviews

Crimson Halo by Daniel May

hellishlyawkward's review

adventurous dark emotional funny sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Such a strange story!

The author writes so beautifully I would read anything he’s written, but I couldn’t help feeling sad at the end of this story.

I liked Seth more when he was away from Drew than when they were together. His naïveté was sweet and hilarious and I could have read about his reactions to modern life alone for hours, but did find his blankness around Drew made me feel cold towards him. His love didn’t feel like the love humans have for each other - which makes perfect sense as he hasn’t been human for a long time, but my soft romantic heart was left wishing for the usual emotions/reactions to be expressed.

The turns the story took were unexpected and odd. It started out so light and funny and ended with quite a grim feeling despite Seth and Drew getting a HEA of sorts. Sad hangover from this, hope the author's other books are…easier?

gatun's review against another edition

5.0

Crimsom Halo was an enjoyable book. I enjoyed the fact that the Paranormal world was hidden from normal people. That extra pressure of secrecy adds something to the story. As someone who has my own demons, I truly appreciate how right Daniel May got the character of drew. Seth was adorable. Seth was awkward. And just like my daughter at a young age, Seth bit. He was a very fascinating vampire. I also enjoyed the side characters. I would like to see more from Seth and Drew and possibly Bruce and Francisco. A great book for the season.

angisnowflake's review against another edition

Not my first book by the author and I was looking forward to this but somehow the writing wasn’t working for me this time. Maybe I will give this another try someday.

n0s4a2's review

dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

k_gauna's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

Definitely a different kind of vampire story and very refreshing. Actually felt sorry for Blonde and there were a few times I shed a few tears for Seth and Drew. 

error_'s review

4.0

This book was honestly incredible. The writing was so metaphorical, compelling and vivid and hauntingly beautiful, it was what drew me in and made me continue reading. The romance was interesting - a vampire struggling to find meaning after living for thousands of years, and an artist, brilliant in his talent yet battling a sever mental illness. I almost gave a five star but bumped down a star because

• the instalove (and the lube-less sex)
• the killer was obvious from the start
• Grace's history with Seth could have been explored more to further amplify her importance to Seth
• the atmosphere switched from 'dark and terrifying' to 'sweet and romantic' very quickly in some scenes and it was rather jarring
• the MC's backstories were quite vague (and Seth's history was important to the development of his character especially but it wasn't mentioned much except to show how many years he lived more than other people)

also personally I wanted an epilogue because I wanted to see how the dynamics changed in Seth's household (since after

Bruce falsely accused Seth of murder and Seth nearly killed him and Fransisco

), how they are helping Blondie (because Drew and Blondie's relationship was my favorite in the novel) and Drew's progress with his mental illness.

astral_disaster's review

fast-paced

3.5

pulpfan's review

I struggled to finish this one, and started and stopped several times before formally DNFing. There are interesting things here, but ultimately the story felt disjointed and tonally inconsistent. There are a handful of secondary characters that sort of blur together and don't really contribute to the story or offer much of interest. The sex scene was confusingly written and I actually had to reread it to understand what was going on. I liked Blondie and Drew, and I liked some of the things May did with Seth, but Seth didn't feel consistent or interesting to me. This one is very much a YMMV. It seems to be intentionally written to go against the grain, but ultimately it's a miss for me. I like the second book in the series a lot better, and I'm glad I read it first.

fatimawright's review

dark funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

4.0

blue_noise's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

4.5